Production testing involves the individual testing of large numbers of parts to determine if they function acceptably. Each test that is performed on a part exacts a cost in terms of time expenditure. The time expenditure for each part, or component of a part is multiplied over large numbers of parts and thus can be very expensive.
Production testing of integrated circuits includes the evaluation of several different integrated circuit parts. One such part that must be evaluated is the control circuit timer. Timers are used in the control circuitry of most integrated circuits, e.g., power amplifiers. A conventional timer 100 is shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, timer 100 divides a clock of frequency f0 into a clock of frequency f0/2N that is produced at an output of timer 100 in order to generate a delay. Such timers can be used to delay the power-up or the power-down of the power amplifier to allow noise associated with power-up and power-down to settle so as to facilitate “click-less” and “pop-less” performance.
Controlled delays provided by control circuit timers can range from milliseconds to seconds or greater. Although these wait times are beneficial as a means of facilitating click-less and pop-less performance during normal operation they add a substantial measure of time to the time that is needed to evaluate each part that is tested during the final production test. These wait times, that are expended on each part, constitute production time expenditures that are very costly in terms of time and expense. Such time consuming operation is highly undesirable in the production test environment.